Shaft seal



May 7, 1940. F. SHENTON SHAFT SEAL Filed Oct. 25. 1937 Patented May 7, 1940 I i i I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHAFT SEAL Francis Shenton, Waynesboro, Pa., assignor 'to Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 23, 1937, Serial No. 170,683

Claims. (01. 286-7) This invention relates to; refrigeration and features of the seal disclosed in my patent above more particularly to the provision of a pressurenoted, has the added advantage in that the sealtight seal around a rotating shaft where it ing members more effectively resist separation passes through a wall, .as for example, the wall from their coacting sealing surfaces due to 5 of a crankcase or the like to prevent leakage stresses resulting from fluctuation in crankcase of refrigerant fluid through the wall along the pressures. 1 shaft by means of which power is supplied for v The foregoing and other objects and advandriving the compressor. tages will become apparent in view of the fol- The present invention may be considered in lowing descriptiontaken in conjunction with the the nature of an improvement on, or as an alterdrawing, whe l0 native construction with respect to that disclosed The sin le figur s a substantially central by my Patent No. 2,020,436, granted November longitudinal sectional view of a shaft seal assem- 12, 1935. While the shaft seal covered by the bly illustrating one application of the invention. rpatent just. specified, is, in general, highly satis- Referring to the drawing in detail, a shaft is factory, yet certain dimculties were encountered indicated at I 0, said shaft extending through 15 in its use when installed in a system where the the wall ll of the housing. or crankcase of a as pressure in the crankcase fluctuated above compressor or the like (not shown) of e re and below atmospheric pressure. When the, fluid ra ing ys m nd y means of which power pressure in the crankcase exceeds outside or is supplied for driving the compressor or other atmospheric pressure, a force is exerted on the mechanism 2o crankshaft tending to push it out of the cranke W l II is p ov ded th anehlarged bore case or against the thrust bearing forming part Ila around the shaft ill to accommodate the seal of the shaft seal assembly. The magnitude of echanism, such enla ed bore being formed this force is equal to the difference in these two e t r in the a in an extension thereof- 5 pressures (fluid and atmospheric) times the cross A s al n fla ge i2 is ta d to the eylinsectional area of the shaft where it passes drical extension of the wall II by means of bolts through the shaft seal. When the pressure in r studs l3 and nuts I. the joint ein made the crankcase is less than the external pressure, Pressure-tight y means of a gasket T this force reverses its direction, tending to push Sealing fla e is prov d with a e ve the shaft further into the crankca thin neck l6 having its end surface ground and It is customary to build compressors and the in intimate contact with a flexible sealing and ike with some endwise movement allowed to the bearing or wear ring I! mounted to rotatewith crankshaft so as to permit expansion and conthe Shaft l9 a b or d against the ground traction of the shaft due to changes in temperaface f t th n neck t f th s al flan e 5 ture. Further, wear of thrust bearings eventun inner or r ar sp n a n r I8 s all results in end play. The shaft seal as coytcncd s dly o t aft II y set s ws," or

ered by Patent No. 2,020,436 did not as a rule in any other suitable manner.

slide easily enough on the shaft due to binding outer or fr spr n t in n ring 0 s of the compressible packing ring against t disposed around shaft II) "in spaced relation to shaft, and when the pressure in the crankcase the ring 18 and is provided with an annular changed from higher to lower than outside preschannel in which are oc ted packi rings sure and the crankshaft m d further t t 22 and 23 of any suitable compressible flexible crankcase, the sealing faces sometimes separated materialada d for such pu p and permitted leakage. The packing rings 2| and 22 are preferably Generally stated, therefore, the object of the substantially e a e ai in d in 45 present invention is to provide a shaft seal Position n spaced f e ot ye pac adapted for use in a refrigerating system which ring 4, c nical surface 5 of front r tain ng r n effectively seals the joint around a rotating shaft. 23 and conical surface 25 of l'ihg The rings More speciflca11y, the invention contemplates a 2 d 23 may be made of suitable es i seal of the type specified which will operate material s as synthetic be e so effectively regardless of stresses resulting from p one, composition rubber or analogous material. fluctuation of crankcase pressures above and be- Ring 21 fi t he Oute end t e annular low outside or atmospheric pressures. channel in front retaining ring 20 and has its Another object is to provide a shaft seal asouter surface machined down to form an annular sembly which while embodying the advantageous space or recess between front retaining ring 20 55 and ring 21 to receive packing ring 23. It will be noted that this ring 23 (which compares with ring 2| of Patent No. 2,020,436) at no time contacts with or exerts a binding action on shaft l0, since the flange portion 21a of ring 21 spaces 20. In like manner the sealing ring I1 is caused to positively rotate with the shaft I0 by means of suitable means such as dowel pins 30' seated in the front spring-retaining ring 20 and extending through apertures in the ring H. In place of dowel pins and likepositive connecting means, friction between the parts may be depended upon for establishing such connection. Thus while a positive connection is preferred, it is not essential to the operation of the invention.

In operation, shaft ll] rotates within the stationary portion of the housing and carries with it front and rear retaining rings l8 and 20,- springs 28, flexible disc packing rings 2|, 22 and 23, and rings 24 and 21. Sealing flange I2 is stationary with the housing H, and the wearing surfaces are between the ground face l6 of the sealing flange and the flexible disc H. The annular space around the shaft l0 within the wall II will be filled with fluid at a pressure above' or below atmospheric, the leakage of which into or out of the casing this invention is designed to prevent.

The springs 28 force the flexible disc against the face, |6 with suflicient pressure to prevent fiuid leakage therebetween. Also, packing ring 23 is compressed against the disc I! to prevent leakageat that point. Packing rings 2| and 22 hug the shaft l0 and prevent leakage along the shaft and thence between the disc I1 and the shaft l0. Due to the substantial V-s'hape of the packing rings 2| and 22, fluid pressure tends to collapse them against the shaft so as to assure a tight joint. When, however, the pressures inside and outside the crankcase are equal or a substantially balanced condition exists, there is no tendency to collapse the packing rings 2| and 22 against the shaft, and these rings, therefore, do not hug the shaft tight enough to offer severe frictional resistance to end-wise movement of the shaft. Therefore, as the pressure in the crankcase, changes from above to below outside pressure, which is coincident with the end-wise movement of the shaft into the crankcase due to this change in pressure, the thrust of the springs 28 is free to counteract the frictional thrust of the shaft on the retaining ring 20 and hold the disc I! against the seal face l6 so that theseal will preventleakage in spite of end-wise shaft movement.

equal advantage in systems subject to similar or analogous conditions, or systems wherein the gas pressure in an enclosedhousing through which the shaft to be sealed extends is subject to fluctuations above and below atmospheric or outside pressure. I do not therefore limit myself to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated in the, ap-

pended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fluid pressure seal for the joint between a shaft and a relatively stationary member through which the shaft extends, one of which is provided with an annular bearing face and the other having a metallic sealing and bearing ring surround-' press said portions against the shaft, and mechanical means urgingsaid additional compressible packing rings against said shaft and said first named compressible packing ring against said sealing and bearing ring.

2. A fluid pressure seal for the joint between ashaft and a stationary member through which the shaft extends, one of which is provided with an annular bearing face and the other having a sealing and bearing ring surrounding said shaft and rotatable therewith and engaging said bearing face to seal against leakage of fluid radially of the shaft, a compressible packing ring engage ing said sealing and bearing ring, and a coacting seal for sealing against leakage of fluid axially of the shaft comprising additional compressible packing rings surrounding said shaft within cooperative adjacency to said first named packing ring and having substantially angle-shaped outer edge sealing portions presented in opposed relation axially of and lying contiguous to said shaft whereby fluid pressures exerted longitudinally of theshaft tend to compress said portions against the shaft, and a spring pressed member sleeved on and rotatable with the shaft for maintaining all of said compressible packing rings in compressed condition and urging said sealing and bearing ring into sealing engagement with said annular bearing face.

3. A fluid pressure seal for the joint between a shaft and a stationary member through which the shaft extends, one of which is provided with an annular bearing face, comprising a metallic sealing and bearing ring surrounding said shaft and engaging said annular bearing face, a compressible packing ring en aging said sealing and bearing ring, additional packing means surrounding said shaft in rear of said first named packing ring, said additional packing means having axially opposed substantially angle shaped edge sealing portions contiguous to said shaft whereby fiuid pressures exerted longitudinally of said shaft tend to-bind said portions to the shaft. means spacing said first named packing ring from the shaft, and means mechanically urging said additional packing rings in fluid-tight relation with said shaft, said means also operating to urge said first-named packing ring against the sealing and stationary member through which the shaft eittends, one of which is provided with an annular bearing face, comprising a flexible metallic sealouter edge sealing portions lying contiguous to said shaft, means spacing said first-named packing ring from the shaft and also from said second-named packing rings, and means mechanically urging said coacting rings in fluid tight relation with said shaft, said means also operating to urge said first-named packing ring against the 'sealing and bearing ring and the latter against said bearing face.

5. A seal for the joint between a shaft and a stationary member through which the shaft extends; one of which is provided with an annular bearing'face, comprising a flexible metallic sealing and bearing ring surrounding said shaft and engaging said annular bearing face, a compressible packing ring engaging the inner face of said packing rings coacting with one another and surrounding said shaft in rear of said first-named packing rings, a ring spacing said additional packing rings, said additional packing rings and spacer ring having as a unit a substantially V- shaped contour in cross section with axially op,- posed angle-shaped sealing portions lying contiguous to said shaft, another spacer ring spacing said first named packing ring from said shaft and also from said additional packing rings, and sprlng' pressed means in rear of all of said packing rings maintaining them in compressed condition and urging said sealing and bearing ring against said bearing face.

more snnm'on.

sealing and bearing ring, a pair of additional 

